C.A.R.S. and Military Families

After a two-year ordeal that started when Toyota sold them an unsafe lemon RAV4, Army Tank Commander John Snell and his wife Christina are celebrating a very sweet victory.

Their ordeal started after a Toyota car dealership in Georgia sold the Snells a new Toyota RAV 4. About a year later, it began breaking down at unpredictable moments, leaving Christina stranded on winding country roads in the middle of winter in Germany, where John was stationed. At first, Toyota refused to repair their vehicle unless they paid for the parts and labor out of pocket in advance. Even after they persisted, Toyota failed to provide the necessary parts, leaving them without a vehicle for months. Eventually, a panel of arbitrators ruled that their RAV 4 was unsafe and declared it a lemon. Toyota was ordered to take back their lemon vehicle and replace it, but they refused. Instead, they sued the Snells.

Why? Toyota wanted to get a ruling in court that would allow them to get away with selling defective new cars to military families in our country, without having to honor the warranties if the families are later stationed outside the U.S. and take their cars with them.

This is shameful. As Christina Snell wrote in a petition she filed on Change.org:

Christina and John Snell at a military ball, before their son was born

"I could not be more proud of my husband, who is a highly decorated Army Tank Commander. We're both honored to be a military family. When we learned we were going to be transferred to a duty station in Germany, we talked it over and decided to buy a brand new car, so we wouldn't have to worry about having reliable transportation while coping with all the challenges that come with being stationed overseas. When we went to a local Toyota dealer in Savannah, Georgia, we asked whether Toyota would honor the warranty, even if we were serving abroad. We were repeatedly assured that Toyota is a global company with dealerships and repair facilities around the world, and there was no problem. It even said in the warranty book that 'If you are using your vehicle outside the United States, US territories and Canada and need warranty service, contact a local Toyota dealership….The warranty repairs should be completed in a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed 30 days.' So we bought the new RAV 4.

Unfortunately, Toyota does not want to honor that commitment or their warranty. They claim that because we are in the military, and took the car with us to Germany, they do not have to comply with Georgia's auto lemon law. We are determined to fight back. Toyota boasts they made over $18 billion in profits last year. They should not make those profits at the expense of military families who are serving our nation and putting their lives on the line to help protect all of us from our enemies."

CARS heard about their ordeal, and helped them and their attorney, Michael Flinn, raise awareness about Toyota's outrageous and disgraceful conduct toward the Snells. Over 155,000 people signed the Snell's petition on Change.org, urging Toyota to buy back their lemon car. Many wrote comments such as "Toyota should be banned from selling cars on any military base."

For months, Toyota stonewalled. They even tried to keep evidence about John Snell's tours of duty and his military medals and awards from becoming part of the record before the Court. To his credit, Flinn did not back down, and never wavered in his defense of the Snells and their rights. Finally, Toyota agreed to drop their lawsuit against the Snells, buy back their lemon car, and replace it with a new 2017 RAV4. Plus they paid some fees.
Under Georgia's lemon law, Toyota has to brand the title of the lemon RAV4 as a "manufacturer buyback," to help alert consumers about the car's history. They also have to repair the defects and provide at least a 12-month warranty.

An added bit of good news: Toyota also had to give up on winning an appellate court decision that could have allowed them to deny lemon law protections to ALL military families who ship their cars to duty stations overseas.

Many thanks to all who signed Christina's petition on Change.org. We are proud to salute Christina and John Snell for their principled perseverance, and for their courageous and exemplary service to our nation. They have played an important role in preserving important lemon law protections for ALL of our military heroes and their families.

CARS tells Toyota: Stop selling unsafe lemons to military families

Toyota sold John and Christina Snell a new unsafe lemon RAV 4

CARS has joined Christina and John Snell in calling on Toyota to buy back their unsafe lemon car, and stop suing them -- because they are in the military and took their new car with them to their duty station in Germany. John Snell is a highly decorated military hero serving in the U.S. Army. As Christina wrote in a petition on Change.org:

"In 2013, a Toyota car dealership in Georgia sold my Army husband and me a new Toyota RAV 4. About a year later, it began breaking down at unpredictable moments, leaving me stranded on winding country roads in the middle of winter in Germany, where we were stationed. At first, Toyota refused to repair our vehicle unless we paid for the parts and labor out of pocket in advance. Even after we persisted, Toyota failed to provide the necessary parts, leaving us without a vehicle for months. Eventually, a panel of arbitrators ruled that our RAV 4 was unsafe and declared it a lemon. Toyota was ordered to take back our vehicle and replace it, but they refused. Instead, now they are suing us."

The U.S. Department of Defense, Secretary of the Army, and Secretary of the Air Force have
identified predatory auto dealer lending as a threat to military readiness and national security. They
were joined by Holly Petraeus, Head of the Better Business Bureau's Military Line, who helped raise
public awareness of the serious financial problems faced by Servicemembers and their families, due to
auto dealer scams.

For decades, the Federal Trade Commission has turned a deaf ear to pleas by military officials
and individual members of the Armed Forces for help. At a hearing before the House Subcommittee on
Consumer Protection, an FTC official even denied that auto lending is a problem for military personnel -
- despite overwhelming evidence of the problems documented in official studies, data calls, testimony,
memorandums, and news reports.
Read more: Letters from Military and news reports about sleazy auto dealers preying on Military Service members

~ Rosemary Shahan presents Cpl. Woods with his new car.

CARS works to improve protections for military Servicemembers and their families

The military has identified financing by unscrupulous auto dealers as the #1 financial readiness
problem encountered by troops and their families.

Report by KPIX-TV in San Francisco: Marine Veteran, after serving two terms in Iraq, is cheated by
shady auto dealer near Camp Pendelton.

California is now the first and only state in the nation to specifically protect active duty military troops whose vehicles are “lemons,” regardless where their vehicles were purchased or are registered. The new law will take effect January 1, 2008.

The new law was inspired by a particularly courageous consumer, Lt. Nathan Kindig, who serves in the United States Navy as a physicians assistant. When Lt. Kindig bought a new 2004 Dodge Dakota truck, he had no idea he was in for such a wild ride. Now the ordeal he and his family experienced at the hands of DaimlerChrysler has sparked improved lemon law protections for all 160,000 active duty troops stationed in California.

Before he bought the truck in Washington state, Lt. Kindig carefully researched ratings of trucks and chose one that promised to be safe and reliable. And for a while, it was. Then it started to overheat. When he returned from his first tour in Iraq, he took his fiancée and 7-year-old daughter with him to visit his parents in Arkansas. Shortly before they arrived, the truck overheated and left them stranded on the side of the road. It had to be towed to a local dealership for repairs. There it stayed for about a week. During the precious time Lt. Kindig had with his family on leave, he had to borrow his parents’ car simply to have wheels.

Thus began a long saga of repeated overheating episodes. Once they crossed the Arizona desert in blazing midday heat, rushing to make it back to California in time to report for duty, with the widows rolled down and the heater going full blast–as a dealer had suggested, to keep the engine from seizing up.

Finally, after many attempts to fix the overheating failed, a dealer in Southern California conceded it was not repairable and advised Lt. Kindig to get a lawyer. He found Ellen Turnage, a seasoned lemon law attorney in San Diego. When she contacted DaimlerChrysler, their attorney acknowledged that if Kindig were protected by California’s lemon law (widely considered to be the best in the nation), D/C would buy it back right away.

But–California’s lemon law applies only to vehicles purchased in the state. And Kindig bought his Dakota in Washington. So–DaimlerChrysler refused to give him a refund. While he waited for justice, he had to continue making monthly payments on a vehicle he and his family couldn’t drive. This caused them severe economic hardship, especially since his wife had planned to use the truck to haul furniture and generate income restoring antiques, to help supplement their meager military pay.

Daimler/Chrysler’s attitude didn’t sit well with Turnage, who began to complain about Kindig’s treatment. His plight came to the attention of Rosemary Shahan, President of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. Shahan, who was married to a Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer for 20 years, sympathized with Lt. Kindig. She began to contact lawmakers in Sacramento and raise their awareness of California’s lemon loophole that leaves troops at the mercy of stonewalling auto manufacturers.

At the urging of CARS, Senator Liz Figueroa (D-San Leandro), chaired a special Joint Sunset Review Committee hearing to delve into scams that afflict military personnel stationed in California. At the hearing, representatives of the U.S. Armed Forces and consumer groups, including CARS, testified. Lt. Kindig testified live via phone from his duty station in Iraq.

Shortly before the hearing, D/C agreed to repurchase Lt. Kindig’s lemon, but on terms that would cost him thousands of dollars, compared to what he would have received if he were protected by California’s lemon law. In order to maximize the refund Lt. Kindig received, Ellen Turnage agreed to forego her attorneys fees and represent him pro bono publico (for the public good).

Moved by Lt. Kindig’s account of his lemon ordeal, Senator Figueroa authored legislation to expand protection under California’s auto lemon law to include our troops, regardless where they buy their lemons. However, since the bill was introduced late in the session, it didn’t get assigned to any committee, and died. Then Senator Figueroa left office, due to term limits.

However, her successor, Senator Ellen Corbett, widely respected as one of consumers’ staunchest champions on the California legislature, took up the cause. This year, she is the author of SB 234. The bill attracted widespread bi-partisan support, and has passed unanimously in both houses of the California Assembly before the Governor signed it into law.

Navy Federal Credit Union, letter of support signed by Vice Admiral Cutler Dawson, (Ret.), President and CEO

California State Commanders Veterans Council

National Guard Association of California

Consumer Federation of California

Consumer Attorneys of California

Charles S. Cooper III, Major General, USAF (Ret.)

Lt. Col. Steve Lynch, USAF (Ret.)

Consumer Action

CARS commends Lt. Kindig for standing up and speaking out on behalf of all our troops, to help spare them the hardships he and his family endured. No one who is serving our nation should have to worry about a seriously defective “new” automobile causing them economic hardship or putting their families’ lives in jeopardy.

Thank you to all who worked to help sweeten California’s recipe for lemon-aid for our troops and their families.

"...greater Government oversight of automobile financing and sales for our Airmen will help protect them and reduce unnecessary financial strain on our already overburdened Air Force families."
Read more...

U.S. Department of Defense urges Congress to help protect troops

"The Department of Defense would welcome and encourage [Consumer Financial Protection Agency]
CFPA protections provided to Service members and their families with regard to unscrupulous
automobile sales and financing practices, provided such protections would not limit access to
legitimate products.
Read more...

Department of Defense Data Call summary: based on responses from 841 officers who provide financial counseling to all 4 branches of the United States Armed Forces. Read summary...

" ... some car salesmen who actively solicit military members and loudly praise their service nevertheless target them for rip-offs, frauds and overcharges."
Read article...

Follow the Money

Recently Congress granted auto dealers a special exemption from being regulated by the new
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This, despite the fact auto lending is a $850 billion business,
and auto dealers are the #1 source of consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau and state and
local consumer protection agencies.

Surprise -- campaign cash played a central role in the dealers' win against consumers, including
the military.

In the past two decades, auto dealers have lavished more than $25 million in campaign
contributions on Congressional candidates, with 75% going to Republicans. They have repeatedly
reaped rewards in return, at the expense of consumers and taxpayers. Last year, Congress gave auto
dealers more than $3,000,000 in taxpayer dollars, through the "Cash for Clunkers" program -- with no
strings attached to protect car buyers from predatory dealership lending. Auto dealers have also
benefited from TARP and TALF and other bailout funds.

The biggest beneficiary of auto dealer campaign cash: U.S. Sen. John McCain. He has accepted
more than $717,000 from auto dealers. Despite his military background, Sen. McCain turned a deaf ear
to the military community, and voted to exempt auto dealers. Ironically, Arizona has some of the most
high-profile cases involving auto dealers preying on troops.

Even the Pentagon has weighed in, insisting that automobile purchases and dealer-assisted financing should be part of any new financial legislation because low-income military people are victimized in large numbers by shady car dealers that set up shop just outside many bases. Officials say distractions caused by these bad auto deals could affect the readiness of the armed forces.
Read more...

The Pentagon versus the Auto DealersHuffington Post, May 12, 2010

President Obama yesterday spoke out against a "special loophole" sought by the country's auto dealers... Dealers engage in "powerbooking" and "yo-yo financing...."
Read more...

The Military Coalition urges the U.S. Senate to stand up
for our troops against unscrupulous auto dealers

The Military Coalition is comprised of 31 nationally respected military advocacy
organizations representing more than 5.5 million active duty military Servicemembers,
veterans, their families and survivors.
Read more...

"...an amendment by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback to exempt car dealers from Dodd's bill
'will allow unscrupulous dealers to continue to take advantage of service members and their families.'
'We can't have lenders continuing to prey on our military families,' said Katie Savant, deputy director
of government relations at the National Military Family Association."
Read more...

New Front in Battle over Financial RegulationWall Street Journal, April 22, 2010

"...among the lobbyists crowding Congress are representatives of U.S. military personnel, who are
in a pitched battle with America's car dealers....U..S. car dealers want to be excluded from new financial regulations...A coalition of more than 30 military organizations is urging lawmakers to resist the exclusion
of the auto dealers, arguing that soldiers are being targeted by predatory lenders. The coalition says it is
a problem affecting military readiness."
Read more...

~ Cpl. William Woods on duty in Iraq

Marine Corporal William Woods served two tours of duty in Iraq as a mortarman. He is also fluent in Arabic, and served as a translator between his command and Iraqi officials.

Congress may improve protections for military members from shady auto dealers.

After a shady auto dealer refused to give him back his own car, Iraq war vet and Marine Corporal William Woods was without wheels since August, 2009. That made it hard for him to look for a job -- until CARS President Rosemary Shahan presented him a Valentine's Day gift of $3000 to purchase a used car. Cpl. Woods is all smiles at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Sacramento, where he unwrapped his "new" used car. His dog Haley looks pretty happy too. But -- does she have a license to drive?

Update (July, 2010): "With his new set of wheels, Cpl. Woods found two new jobs, and was
also able to drive to his younger brother's high school graduation.

CARS gives Iraq war vet Valentine's Day gift of a "new" used car, after dealer ripoff leaves him without wheels since last August.

NEVER trust that a dealer will have the safety recall repairs performed before selling you a car that is being recalled. Dealers are so eager to make a buck, fast, they are unwilling to delay sales long enough to get the safety recall repairs done -- for FREE.

Plus -- dealers are actively opposing legislation in Washington, DC and in California that would prohibit them from renting, selling, leasing, or loaning unsafe, recalled vehicles to consumers, unless the safety recall repairs have been performed first.

CARS' tips on how to buy a safe, reliable used car — without having to risk going to a dealer:

Did a dealer sell you an unsafe, recalled car? We want to hear your story. Contact CARS

Buyer Beware! Auto dealers' one-
sided contracts can ruin your life

Even if the car dealer breaks the law, you might not be able to get justice. Forced arbitration clauses hidden in the fine print can keep you tied up for years. The dealer often gets to pick the arbitrator who hears your case. CARS exposed how a dealer abused arbitration, after selling Jon Perz an unsafe car. CARS' video has received over 1.3 million views on YouTube. Jon and his attorney eventually won, but because of forced arbitration, Jon had to wait 8 years for justice:

Think this is outrageous? Call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121, and urge them
to vote for the Arbitration Fairness Act. More about the AFA, now pending before Congress:http://www.fairarbitrationnow.org